Samuel Beckett: Criticism (3): Topical Listings


File 1 Annual Listings (Monographs)
File 2 Annual Listings (Articles)
File 3 Topical Listings

Major biographies
Critical Collections
Reference & Bibliography

 General Studies
Journals: Beckett Issues
Miscellaneous (Exhib. Cats.)
File 4 Tables of Contents

The titles listed in this section were compiled independently of the annual listings and are largely reproduced there in their chronological order. However, titles listed after 1996 have been added to the chronological lists first and afterwards sorted into the following categories. This process is on-going and therefore likely to be incomplete at any moment.

Major Biographies

  • Deirdre Bair, Samuel Beckett: A Biography (NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; London: Jonathan Cape 1978), 736pp. with index, 42 ills.; James Knowlson, Damned to fame : the life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury 1996), xxiv, 872 pp., ill. [32pp. of pls.], and Do. trans. [into French] by Oristelle Bonis as Samuel Beckett: un illustre inconnu ([Paris]: Solin/Actes Sud 1998).
  • Anthony Cronin, Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist (London: HarperCollins 1996), 655pp.

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Critical Collections
  • Martin Esslin, ed., Twentieth-century Views: Samuel Beckett (NJ: Prentice-Hall 1965), 182pp. [see contents].
  • Colin Duckworth, ed., En attendant Godot: piece en deux actes (London: Harrap 1966).
  • W. J. McCormack, ed.,], Beckett at 60: A Festschrift (London: Calder & Boyars 1967), 100pp. [see contents]; Bell Gaele Chevigny, ed., Twentieth-Century Interpretations of “Endgame” (NJ: Prentice Hall 1969), 120pp. [see contents].
  • Melvin J. Friedman, ed., Samuel Beckett Now: Critical Approaches to his Novels, Poetry, and Plays (Chicago UP 1970), 275pp. [see contents].
  • James Donald O’Hara, ed., Twentieth-century Interpretations of Molloy, Malone Dies,The Unnamable: A Collection of Critical Essays (NJ: Prentice-Hall [1970]), iii, 120pp.
  • Katherine Worth, ed., Beckett the Shape Changer: A Symposium (London/Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1975), 227pp. [see contents].
  • Ruby Cohn, ed., Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Criticism (NY: McGraw-Hill 1975), 138pp. [see contents].
  • Edouard Morot-Sir, Howard Harper & Dougald McMillan, eds., Samuel Beckett: The Art of Rhetoric (North Carolina UP 1976).
  • Kathleen McGrory & John Unterecker, eds., Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett: New Light on Three Modern Irish Writers (Lewisburg: Bucknell UP 1976) [see contents].
  • Tom Bishop & Raymond Federman, eds., Samuel Beckett (Paris: Edition de l’Herne 1976; rep. Paris: Librairie Générale Française 1985; rep. Paris: éditions de l’Herne 1997) [English & French; contribs. incl. Allan Schneider, Erika Ostrovsky, Julia Kristeva, Walter A. Strauss, & Hélène Cixous].
  • Lawrence Graver & Raymond Federman, eds., Samuel Beckett: The Critical Heritage (London: Routledge 1979; 1997), 372pp.
  • Morris Beja, S. E. Gontarski & Pierre A. Astier, eds., Samuel Beckett: Humanistic Perspectives (Columbus: Ohio State UP 1983), 217pp. [see contents].
  • John Pilling, ed., Cambridge Companion to Beckett (Cambridge: CUP 1984), 249pp. [see contents].
  • Patrick A. McCarthy, ed., Critical Essays on Samuel Beckett (Boston: G. K. Hall 1986) [contribs. incl. John Pilling, Roch C. Smith, Kay Gilliland Stevenson, James Acheson et al.]; Enoch Brater, ed., Beckett at 80: Beckett in Context (NY: OUP 1986), 238pp. [see contents].
  • [no ed.], As No Other Dare Fail: For Samuel Beckett on His 80th Birthday by His Friends and Admirers (London: John Calder; NY: Riverrun 1986) [q. eds]; S. E. Gontarski, ed., On Beckett: Essays and Criticism (NY: Grove 1986), 418pp. [see contents].
  • James Acheson & Kateryna Arthur, eds., Beckett’s Later Fiction and Drama: Texts for Company (London: Macmillan; NY: St. Martin’s 1987), 206pp. [see contents].
  • Harold Bloom, ed., Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” (NY: Chelsea House 1987), 131pp. [see contents]; Ruby Cohn, ed., Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot: A Casebook (London: Macmillan 1987), 256pp. [see contents].
  • Alan Warren Friedman, Charles Rossman & Dina Sherzer, eds., Beckett Translating/Translating Beckett (Pennsylvania State UP 1987), 245pp. [22 essays]; Katherine H. Burkman, ed., Myth and Ritual in the Plays of Samuel Beckett (Rutherford, Madison & Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson UP 1987), 169pp. [contribs. incl. Mary A. Doll, also bibl.].
  • Harold Bloom, ed., Samuel Beckett: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable [Modern Critical Interpretations] (Chelsea Hse. Publ. 1988), 159pp.; Harold Bloom, ed., Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame”; [Modern Critical Interpretations] (NY: Chelsea House 1988), 160pp. [see contents].
  • Robin J. Davis & Lance St. John Butler, eds., “Make Sense Who May”: Essays on Samuel Beckett’s Later Works (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe 1988; 1989), 175pp. [see contents].
  • Enoch Brater and Ruby Cohn, eds., Around the Absurd: Essays on Modern and Postmodern Drama (Michigan UP 1990), 316pp. [see contents].
  • Lance St John Butler & Robin J. Davis, eds., Rethinking Beckett: A Collection of Critical Essays (Basingstoke: Macmillan 1990), 207pp. [see contents]; Linda Ben-Zvi, ed., Women in Beckett, Performance and Critical Perspectives (Illinois UP 1990), 260pp. [see contents].
  • Joseph H. Smith, ed., The World of Samuel Beckett (Johns Hopkins UP 1991), 226pp. [see contents].
  • S. E. Wilmer, ed., Beckett in Dublin (Dublin: Lilliput 1992) [see contents].
  • John Pilling & Mary Bryden, eds., The Ideal Core of the Onion: Reading Beckett Archives (Reading: Beckett International Foundation 1992), 151pp. [see contents].
  • Stephen Connor, ed., Waiting for Godot & Endgame [New Casebooks Series] (London: Macmillan 1992), ix, 172pp. [incl. Alan Wilde, et al.]
  • Steve E. Wilmer, ed., Beckett in Dublin [papers at Dublin Beckett Festival, 1991] (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1992) [incl. bibl. and 14 photos by Tom Lawlor of Gate Productions]; Lance St John Butler, ed., Critical Essays on Samuel Beckett [Critical Thought Ser. 4] (Aldershot: Scholar Press 1993), 376pp.; S. E. Gontarski, ed., The Beckett Studies Reader (Florida UP 1993), 238pp. [see contents].
  • Marius Buning & Lois Oppenheim, eds., Beckett in the 1990s: Selected Papers from the Second International Beckett Symposium held in the Hague 8-12 April 1992 (Amsterdam: Rodopi 1994); Enoch Brater, ed., The Theatrical Gamut: Notes for a Post-Beckettian Stage (Michigan UP 1995), 304pp. [see contents].
  • Marius Buning & Lois Oppenheim, eds., Beckett Today/Aujourd’hui [Papers of 2nd International Samuel Beckett Conference, Hague, April 1992] (Associated UP 1996); Lois Oppenheim, ed., Directing Beckett (Michigan UP 1994), 320pp. [see contents].
  • Lois Oppenheim & Marius Buning, eds., Beckett On and On ... [Further papers of 2nd International Samuel Beckett Conference, Hague, April 1992] (Associated UP 1996), 259pp. [see contents].
  • Marius Buning, Matthijs Engelberts and Sjef Houppermans, eds., guest ed., Emmanuel Jacquart, Samuel Beckett: Crossroads and Borderlines (Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi 1997), 412pp.
  • Marius Buning, Danièle de Ruyter-Tognotti , Matthijs Engelberts and Sjef Houppermans, eds., Beckett Versus Beckett (Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi 1998), 438pp.
  • Mary Bryden, ed., Samuel Beckett and Music (Clarendon 1998), 267pp. [contribs. incl. John Pilling, Edward Beckett, Walter Beckett, Miron Grindea, Harry White, Catherine Law, Morton Feldman, edith Fournier, Peter Szendy, Giacomo Manzoni, et al.], Katharine Worth, Bruce Stewart, ed., Beckett and Beyond [Princess Grave Irish Library Series No. 9] (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe 1999), 318pp. [see contents].
  • Marius Buning, ed., Beckett and Religion: Beckett/Aesthetics/Politics [Beckett Today/aujourd’hui, No. 9] (Amsterdam: Rodopi 2000).
  • Anthony Uhlmann, Sjef Houppermans & Bruno Clément, eds., After Beckett / D’après Beckett [Samuel Beckett Today/aujourd’hui ser., 14] (Amsterdam: Rodopi Press 2004), 624pp. [Conference at University of Western Sydney, Jan. 2003].
  • Lois Oppenheim, ed., Palgrave Advances in Beckett Studies (London: Palgrave 2004), xii, 262pp. [contribs. incl. Enoch Brach, Peter Oxall, Linda Ben-Zvi, Mary Bryden, Angela Moorjani, et al.].
  • Dirk van Hulle, ed., Journal of Beckett Studies, “Beckett the European”, 13, 2 (Tallahassee: 2005), 208pp.
  • Marius Buning, ed., Historicising Beckett: Issues of Performance [Beckett dans l’histoire / en jouant Beckett] [Samuel Beckett Today/aujourd’hui, 15] (Amsterdam: Rodopi 2005), 362pp.
  • Colleen Jaurretche, ed., Beckett, Joyce and the Art of the Negative [European Joyce Studies, 16] (Amsterdam: Rodopi Press 2005), 246pp.
  • S.E. Gontarski & Anthony Uhlmann, eds
    • ., Beckett after Beckett (Florida UP 2006), 227pp. [see contents]
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Reference & bibliography
  • J. F. T. Tanner & J. D. Vann eds., Samuel Beckett: A Checklist of Criticism (Kent State UP 1969), 85pp.
  • Raymond Federman and John Fletcher, Samuel Beckett, His Work and His Critics: An Essay in Bibliography (California UP 1970), 383pp.
  • Robin Davis, Samuel Beckett: Checklist and Index of his Published Works 1967-76 (Univ. of Stirling Library 1979).
  • Richard L. Admussen, The Samuel Beckett Manuscripts: A Study (Boston: G. K. Hall 1979).
  • Breon Mitchell, ‘A Beckett Bibliography: New Works 1976-82’, Modern Fiction Studies, 29, 1 (Spring 1983), pp.131-51.
  • Carlton Lake, No Symbols Where None Intended: A Collection of Books, Manuscripts, and Other Material Relating to Samuel Beckett in the Collections of the Humanities Research Center (Texas UP [HRC] 1984), 186pp.
  • Rolf Breuer, Harald Gundel & Werner Huber eds., Beckett Criticism in German: A Bibliography [Deutsche Beckett-Kritik: Eine Bibliographie] (München: W. Fink 1986), 85pp.
  • Cathleen Culotta Andonian, Samuel Beckett: A Reference Guide (Boston: G. K. Hall 1989), [bibl. of criticism].
  • John Pilling, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Beckett (Cambridge UP 1994), 249pp. [see contents].
  • P. J. Murphy, [with Werner Huber, Konrad Schoell], Critique of Beckett Criticism: A Guide to Research in English, French, and German (Columbia: Camden House 1994), 173pp. [available at Google Books online.
  • Rolf Breuer and Werner Huber, A Checklist of Beckett Criticism in German (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh 1996), 100pp.
  • Tjebbe Westendorp, ‘Samuel Beckett’ in Bernice Schrank & William Demastes, ed., Irish Playwrights, 1880-1995: A Research and Production Sourcebook (CT: Greenwood Press 1997), pp.3-22.
  • Mary Bryden, Julian, Garforth & Peter Mills eds., Beckett at Reading: Catalogue of the Beckett Manuscript Collection at the University of Reading (Whiteknights Press and the Beckett International Foundation] (Reading University Library 1998), xvii, 197pp. [Part 1: Poetry; Part 2: Drama; Part 3: Prose; Part 4: Miscellaneous];
  • Ronan McDonald, ed., The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett (Cambridge UP 2006), x, 140pp.
  • C. J. Ackerley & S. E. Gontarski, The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett (London: Faber & Faber 2006), 736pp. [also in USA as Grove Companion [..., &c.] (204, xxvii, 686pp.]
  • Dirk Van Hulle, ed., The New Cambridge Companion to Samuel Beckett (Cambridge University Press 2015) [see contents].
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Critical Journals

The Journal of Beckett Studies
JOBS was founded by James Knowlson (Florida State U.) and John Piling (Beckett Centre, Reading U.) in 1976 and first based at Florida State University. The first series ran into the ground in 1984. After a lapse of some years it was reinaugurated by Stanley Gontarski, also of Florida State University, in 1992. In 2007 Gontarksi was joined by Anthony Uhlmann (Western Sydney U.), Chris Ackerley (Otago U., NZ), Dirk Van Hulle (Antwerp U) and Mark Nixon (Reading U.) A new editorial office was established at Western Sydney in 2008. Since then Edinburgh University Press has published three volumes of JOBS since then - viz, Vol. 17, 1-2 (Sept. c2008), Vol. 18, 1-2 (Sept. 2009), and Vol. 19, 1-2 (Sept. 2010). Contents are available online by subscription; see details; accessed 02.09.2010.]
See James Knowlson, ed., Journal of Beckett Studies, 1-12 (1976-84); and Do., n.s., 1- (1992- ) [online]. See The Beckett Circle - biannual organ of the Beckett Society.
 
Note: The Journal of Beckett Studies, "Beckett and Germany", [Special Issue], ed. Mark Nixon & Dirk van Hulle (Sept. 2010).

Sundry special Beckett issues
  • Perspective, 2, 3 (1959).
  • Cahiers Renaud Barrault, 44 (Nov. 1966), Do. 9, 3 (1976), and Do. 102 (1981).
  • Ruby Cohn, ed., Modern Drama, 9, 3 (Dec. 1966); Do. 19, 3 (Sept. 1976), Do. 25, 3 (Sept. 1982), Do. 26, 4 (Dec. 1983), Do. 28, 1 (March 1985).
  • James Joyce Quarterly, 8 (Summer 1971).
  • L’Esprit créateu, II (Fall 1971).
  • Enoch Brater, ed., Journal of Modern Literature, 6, 1 (Feb. 1977).
  • Journal of the Australian Universities Language and Literature Association, 5, 5 (May 1981).
  • Centrepoint: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 4, 2 (Fall 1981).
  • Modern Fiction Studies, 29, 1 (Spring 1983).
  • Maurice Harmon, ed., Irish University Review, 14, 1 [‘Beckett Special Issue’] (Spring 1984) [see contents].
  • Terence Brown & Nicholas Grene, eds., ‘Beckett at 80: A Birthday Tribute’, in Hermathena, 141 (Winter 1986) [see contents].
  • Revue d’esthétique [hors-série] (March 1986).
  • Review of Contemporary Fiction, 7, 2 (Summer 1987).
  • Romance Studies, II (Winter 1987).
  • Critique, 519-20 (Aug.-Sept. 1990).
  • Europe, 770-7I (June-July 1993).

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The Beckett MS Project, ed. Dirk Van Hulle
Vol. 1: Making of Samuel Beckett’s Stirrings Still / Soubresauts and Comment Dire / What Is the Word (ASP 2011), 151pp. CONTENTS - Front; The Beckett Digital Manuscript Project; Acknowledgments; Note on the transcriptions; Abbreviations; Table of Contents; Introduction; 1 The Traces of Beckett’s Last Works; 1.1 Documents; 1.2 Versions, Sections, Paralipomena; 2 The Genesis of Beckett’s Last Works; 2.1 Before; 2.2; 3 The Beckett Digital Manuscript Project; 3.1 Editorial Principles and Practice; 3.2 Method of Representation; Appendix 1 Manual; Appendix 2 Brief Technical Documentation.
Other issues
  • Vol. 2: The making of Samuel Beckett’s stirrings still / soubresauts and comment dire/what is the word (Brussels, Belgium: University Press Antwerp 2011) [book design Gent Stéphane de Schrevel]

  • Vol. 3. with Shane Weller, The making of Samuel Beckett’s L’innommable/The unnamable (Brussels: University Press Antwerp; London: Bloomsbury 2014), 276pp.
  • The making of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s last tape / La dernière bande (London: Bloomsbury (ASP 2015), 272pp.
  • Vol. 4. The making of Samuel Beckett’s “malone dies/malone meurt”  [The Beckett MS Project] London, Bloomsbury 2017 [q.pp.].
  • Vol. 5: The making of Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame/Fin de Partie” (London: Bloomsbury Academic 2018), 160pp.

  • Vol. 6: DVH with Pim Verhulst, The making of Samuel Beckett’s En attendant Godot/Waiting for Godot (London: Bloomsbury 2017), 381pp. ills. & maps (b&w)]
  • Vol. 7: with Shane Weller. The making of Samuel Beckett’s Fin de partie/Endgame [Bloomsbury edition] (London: Bloomsbury [2018]), 371pp., ills.

—Listing extracted from COPAC/Library Hub Discover - online [searching publications of Dirk Van Hulle; 13.10.2019].

General studies
Vivian Mercier, The Irish Comic Tradition (OUP 1962), xv, 254pp.; and Do. [rep. edns.] (London: Souvenir Press 1990, 2008), 273pp.; Hugh Kenner, The Counterfeitors: An Historical Comedy [ill. Guy Davenport] (Indiana UP 1968); David Krause, The Profane Book of Irish Comedy (Cornell UP 1982).

Miscellaneous
Eoin O’Brien and James Knowlson eds., The Beckett Country: An Exhibition for Samuel Beckett’s Eightieth Birthday [catalogue of exhibiton first held in the Library, University of Reading, May 1986] (Dublin: Black Cat; London: Faber 1986), xxvi, 402pp., ill. [325 b&w photos by David Davison].

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